Family Photos

Our friend took our family pictures for her class. The little buddy was sad during the majority of the pictures. He cried and screamed. But we still like how they turned out :)

Little Faces

 I cannot get over how adorable Caleb is. So i felt the need to share:

One month

This little guy is one month old. And what a wonderful month it has been! He goes to bed at 9pm and only wakes up once in the middle of the night to feed. I'm not sure what time he wakes up for the day, somewhere between 8-9. Because he doesn't cry or say a peep. He just chills in his crib. What a good baby. I have loved snuggling and being with him everyday. My favorite thing is singing to him while I hold him against my chest and walk around. Bonding with him has been so special.

He has stolen my heart

Very seldom does he get this upset

Happy Halloween!

There's something about sleeping babies

Happy One Month!

CALEB IS BORN

It was September 24, around 4:30 am I wake up with an unusual pain I've never felt before. It feels like a contraction but I'm not sure. I get out of bed and walk around until its gone. Crawl back into bed and as I'm drifting off to sleep I feel it again. It's a disrupting and uncomfortable feeling so I can't fall back asleep. I'm wide awake and walking around.  I start timing the contractions and find that they are about 7 min apart. By 6 am I wake up kyle and tell him, "I think its time because I just lost my mucus plug and I've been having contractions since 4:30 and they're starting to get closer together." We call the midwife but she can't see me until 9am when the clinic opens. So I have to wait for 3 hours with these contractions that are starting to move from level uncomfortable, to level pain. During this time the pain is tolerable but by 8 o'clock I'm screaming in my pillow and biting down on it while kyle rubs my back and times my contractions. 5 min apart...3 min apart. Poor guy felt so bad and all he wanted to do was take my pain away but couldn't.
   
Finally, 9 am rolls around and we drive to the clinic. My midwife checks and tells me I'm 4 cm dilated and I can go to the hospital. YES!! We get there and I get checked in. The contractions start to get stronger and it's only the beginning. I ask the nurse if the contractions will be even stronger than what I'm feeling when I deliver, "yes." (oh crap) Now I'm beginning to regret my decision of not going to birthing classes. What was I thinking?! Apparently I wasn't. I didn't want to know the details of child-birthing because ignorance is bliss. Well, ignorance is stupid! Panic begins to creep in (I don't know what I'm doing. Kyle doesn't know what he's doing. I don't know how to breathe through the contraction. I already get slight asthma attacks that my chest feels like a heavy weight has been dropped on it and it feels constrained, then I get all lightheaded when I'm so nervous and worried). *contraction* *muffled screaming* *hyperventilating* (I'm such an idiot). The nurse tells me, "Calm down and breathe, you have to breathe" (thanks, lady. I know. I'm just freaking out that this is how my body responds. If I knew how I would do it). The nurse sees that I'm not doing well so she calls for the anesthesiologist.

By 11 am I'm getting my epidural and life comes back to normal. Getting an epidural went a lot better than I imagined it would go. I didn't feel the needle, only a pinch, and it all went quick.  Finally, I was able to rest and relax. The epidural worked so well that Kyle said, "oh man, you're getting a contraction right now and it's spiking!"Not a wince in sight :) I manage to sleep for a few hours through out my labor. At 5 pm my mother in a law and sister in law came to be a part of the delivery. How wonderful to have them there.  Finally 3 nurses, 3 naps, and 4 ice cups later, my midwife, courtney, came in. It was 8:30 pm and she told me I was ready to start pushing. OH MAN!! It's getting real. Here we go.

Kyle to my left, nurse to my right, and Courtney in the middle coaching me as I go. It was so incredible because at first I was being told when to push but soon I could feel the pressure(not pain) of the contraction, despite having the epidural, and pushed before they even told me. They would even sometimes miss a contraction but I was already pushing. During this, I started to feel really weak and faint. I felt SO HOT and couldn't concentrate. They checked my temperature and it had shot up to 107 and I was given Tylenol right away. What seemed like 20 min passed in 2.5 hours because at 10:11 pm Courtney said to me, "Open your eyes and see your son being born." With one last push out came the most beautiful, perfect, tiny, little boy. Ten little toes, ten little finger. A head full of thick black hair. I couldn't help but cry. Cry at this little miracle we had created. Cry at how perfect he was. Cry at finally being able to hold him after 9 months of waiting. Cry because I had just become a mother, the noblest of all callings. Cry at the fact that I felt that I had known him forever, even with the first look. He laid on my chest and Dad and I just cried and life around us seemed to be still and silent. It was just the three of us, finally. It was the most amazing, beautiful, and sacred experience of my life.

The human body is a masterpiece. It is an incredible creation that works so perfectly.  Caleb was physically created from a two singe cells. My uterus was a home to my son; a living, breathing, human being!!! I nourished him and helped him grow INSIDE OF ME. He came out and my body worked overtime to make that happen, all at the same time of providing for me. And my body will go back to how it once was, only to be expanded and moved around inside again for the next time.  My mind just cannot wrapped itself around that ability. My spirit and mind just know that it's true. How can people not believe there is a God and that He created us when something so powerful, so mind blowing, beautiful, amazing, and indescribable like this happens. We did not come to be by accident.

 September 24, 2012 at 10:11 pm, Caleb E. Bastian was born. Weighing in at 8 lb 1 oz.  20.5 inches. He couldn't be more perfect. 

The Last Stretch

 The last month of being pregnant felt like FOREVER.  I was swollen like a balloon (like seriously. My ring didn't fit the last 3 months and only one pair of shoe fit me, barely!) and tired. Not to mention uncomfortable. Thankfully, Kyle was a true gent and slept on the hide a bed until the day I delivered so I was able to be comfortable while I slept. I was hungry ALL THE TIME. I have finally come to understand what it meant to never feel full. It was difficult at times to not eat so much. I remember going to buffalo wild wings and I ended up eating 18 wings, half a basket of fries, and some ice cream. I WAS STILL HUNGRY!! what in the world?!? Kyle stopped at 14 and a few fries. Needless to say, I felt like a pig. We were so anxious for the arrival of our little one (like any mother feels) and just imagined what he would look like.

35 Weeks

36 Weeks

37 Weeks FULL TERM!!! ( last picture before caleb came)

Baby Shower

My sister and my mom threw me a baby shower in honor of the little one.  It was such a blast! The theme was football, of course, and they went all out in decorating even the food in football theme. I was spoiled with love, and gifts for the little one. It so wonderful to see all of the support of family and friends. 

Football chocolate covered strawberries, and bananas, and Football sandwiches

Awesome fruit carriage my aunt made :)

Measure the belly game

AMAZING cake my sister made all by herself

Cake :)

Present time. Carlie helped me

YAY!!

Bounces & Kicks

      I'm 23 weeks now and his kicks are increasing. He's now a foot long and weighs 1 pound :) He can hear my heartbeat, our voices, and any other sounds. I feel kinda silly sometimes talking to my son cause I feel like I'm talking to myself, haha. His movements are causing my belly to bounce and move when he kicks me (but only sometimes) and I love it!!! Sometimes I'll just sit down and poke him to get him to move around. Yesterday at my internship I had placed a binder on my belly as I was typing on the computer when suddenly the binder bounced up right as he kicked. It wasn't a huge bounce but I could see it from the corner of my eye :) I'm so grateful for our healthy, bouncy, baby boy. We've started to buy a few clothing articles for him and looking at cribs and baby stuff!!!! We are soo excited :) Kyle likes to lay down next to me on when I'm sitting on the couch and talk to him. It makes me smile greatly. He's going to be such an excellent father, I just know it. Oh and one other thing, my belly button is soon to pop completely out, haha. Right now it's a little more than halfway out. 

Since he'll be born in the fall we hope to buy something like this for him to take for his newborn pictures :)

Halfway There

      I've hit the 20 week mark...WOOT! That means only 20 more weeks until Baby Charlie arrives!!! :D Thankfully it's been an easy pregnancy. My nausea didn't last long (even though at the time it felt  unbearable, forever, and that it would never end), I haven't had unbearable aches or pains, I've had energy, and I've been abel to sleep wonderfully (with only a few occasional bad nights). I'm starting to feel our son move and feel his kicks :) What a neat experience.  It no longer feels like flutters and tickles, it's more of a pounding feeling now. It makes me sad, though, that Kyle can't feel his kicks yet when he puts his hand on my belly :( I've noticed our baby likes to move quite a bit shortly after I've eaten a meal and sometimes a snack.  I love being pregnant!

This is me at 20 weeks

Gender Time

It's been a while since my last post. But not to worry, nothing too exciting has occurred. The exciting thing now is we found out the gender of our baby...

IT'S A BOY!!!! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A SON :)

What a neat experience this ultrasound was. For 20 minutes we got to see our bouncy baby boy and find out that all is well and healthy with him. What a blessing! We saw how his organs are developing, got to hear his heartbeat, and see him move around more. Everytime I laughed he bounced up and down, haha. The sad part is we didn't really get to see his face expect for once.  He kept hiding it against my uterus. He wasn't shy, though, in announcing his gender that's for sure. We found that out right away, and I was right :) This whole time I've had a feeling baby charlie (that's what we call him cause it's a unisex name) was a boy. Kyle didn't really have a feeling for either one. My mom even knew it was a boy from the first time she saw my belly in April. We are thrilled to have a son. I think more so Kyle cause he'll have someone to teach and play football with :) October 2 couldn't come fast enough!!

This is me at 19 weeks when we went in for the ultrasound

And this is Baby Charlie :) Seeing his profile face gets me so very excited to know what he looks like and to hold him. It makes everything so very real that it blows my mind. Look at his little nose and lips. AH, I can't wait :) 

Good News....

FIRST TRIMESTER IS OVER!!!!!!! NO MORE NAUSEA!!!! Back to my normal self :D

That is all.

Strengthened

      I've been feeling weak and overwhelmed with school and work lately. I just wish I could take a break and have my mom come here, or me go to my mom. I feel kinda gypped out cause I don't get to have my mom take care of me during my pregnancy like she did for my sister-in-law and my sister. It sucks living away from home sometimes. I don't feel like going to class or work. I feel like quitting my job so I can have one less thing to stress about. I feel like dropping out of school but I know I'll regret it because I'm so close to being done. Homework is so difficult to do because all my classes consist of working with a group, which adds more stress to my days. I'm up to my eyes with research, papers, meetings, and projects. But even though I've been feeling so overwhelmed and ready to give up, I have felt strengthened. I have felt the hand of the Lord carrying me through what I cannot do myself. At the end of the day I look at all that I have accomplished, despite feeling sick and tired, and know that it was because of His help. I have received the motivation and help that I need to accomplish my tasks of the day through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know I wouldn't be able to successfully accomplish what I need to do were it not for that. I am so thankful for the atonement and all that it has done and will continue to do for me in my life. 

"My [daughter], my precious child,

I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

Heartbeat Fast

      We got to see our baby and hear its heartbeat for the first time on February 28th :D The experience was amazing!!!! We have been so excited for this moment. It helped make the pregnancy more real (as if the constant nausea wasn't real enough, haha). Laying on the chair and feeling the coldness of the blue ultrasound jelly being squeezed onto my stomach was so anticipating. The doctor then pulled out the ultrasound camera thingy and pressed hard on my abdomen. Instantly we heard a fast, humming sound. It was the heartbeat of our child :D It was  such a tender moment as we smiled and held each others hands.  It was as though time stood still for a few seconds. It's heartbeat sounded like that of a hummingbird. Shortly after, the doctor turned on the camera and there our child was..as small as it could be. Our smiles intensified and it was as though we couldn't smile any bigger!! He or she was wiggling around. It's tiny little arm buds started flapping like we were being waved to :) The doctor measured the baby and found that I am right as planned...9 weeks. Making it's due date October 2, 2012. 

Nausea

       The first trimester is miserable. I have constant feelings of nausea for the majority of the day but can't throw up (unless I make myself throw up). My new food aversion...those egg, melted cheese, and sausage sandwiches. I can't even think about it, let alone smell it or see it (even if its wrapped). Meats are also something I can't eat much of. My energy? It's non-existent. Making my responsibilities difficult to do. Man, who knew something the size of a blueberry could make you feel so sick. I've missed some of my classes quite a bit which is highly unlikely of me, and work (even though it's only two hours a day) is a drag. All I want to do is eat kiwis and strawberries and lay on my couch all day.  I can't wait until this trimester ends. All I can say is thank goodness for Kyle. He has been such a patient and helpful husband. He always makes sure I'm comfortable and happy. He even holds my hair back and rubs my back when I'm throwing up (until I told him to stop cause I didn't want him to see). Now he just waits outside the bathroom with a hug ready for me.  He helps me around the house with dinner and cleaning when I don't have the energy or strength to do so. Another reason why he's the best. Maybe I should invest in those SeaBands my classmate was telling me about....that would be very helpful.

This is how I feel like...

  

Being Pregnant

      It's such a wonderful feeling, knowing there is life inside of you. It's incredible to think of how a human being is created from two tiny individual cells. How organs, veins, blood, muscle, and bone are formed from those two tiny cells that by themselves cannot serve its purpose. How everything functions correctly and how the women's body is able to carry and stretch to accommodate this growing human being. It's so fascinating to us!! As we talk about and contemplate how incredible it is, our testimony is strengthened of our loving Heavenly Father. That He is real and that He loves us so much that he has entrusted us with the ability to create life and house His spirit children to experience joy and happiness. To become more like Him and be a family forever. That is the purpose of life. It's an eternal truth. The Family is central to Heavenly Fathers plan of Happiness for us. This process of creating life is definitely not an accident.  It's amazing, it's beautiful, and it's the reason we are here on this earth. I am so humbled by this knowledge and the power of our Heavenly Father. I thank Him everyday for blessing us with this beautiful opportunity to be parents and have a child who will continue and strengthen our joy. For allowing our little family to grow. We are thrilled to have the opportunity of raising these special children.  It's going to be tough, but it's going to be worth it :)

"Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home.”

- President Henry B. Eyring

And Then There Were Three

WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!!!!!!!! :D :D 

We have been anticipating this moment for many months!! There was much anxiety when we were waiting for the results early in the morning. It felt like the longest 3 minutes ever. I was so nervous because I didn't want to see another one line on the stick.  When I walked into the bathroom I slowly removed the toilet paper I placed on top to uncover the results (cause I felt the need to add more to our anticipation). My eyes were shut and I slowly peeked one open while uncovering, took a deep breath, and screamed for joy. I ran out to tell Kyle who was anxiously waiting on the couch. My performance told him right away what the results were. He jumped off the couch and we ran to each other, hugging, and jumping up and down while we screamed like a bunch of teenage girls (except his voice wasn't high, it was manly). It was the best feeling in the world!!! We couldn't believe it. It was such a surreal experience. We kept having to look at the two lines to remind us of the reality. Our smiles were from ear to ear and the biggest its ever been. We stared at the stick soaking everything in: that there was life being created inside of me, that we were going the become "mom" and "dad" in 9 short months, and that our lives would forever change for the better. Who knew those two little lines could evoke so much excitement and love within us for our child to be. Being a mom is all I've ever wanted to be. I can't wait to hold my children, teach them, protect them, raise them, and form relationships with them along side my husband. What an honored and blessed calling :) We are soo thrilled!!!! We have our first doctors appointment on the 28th of Feb. It's going to be great :)

Christmas Vacation

Christmas was spent with my hubbys family in Twin Falls, Idaho! I have been so excited to spend Christmas with them because my mother in law gets soo excited. She is been described as getting more excited then her children and acting like a little girl. She still leaves cookies out for Santa, which says a lot. It was so fun being a part of the celebration! On Christmas Eve she closes the living room doors and puts a sign that says do not enter. In the morning we all line up at the top of the stairs in order of age and go down one by one. This year, we all got surprised with tickets to CALIFORNIA!! As we opened the yellow envelope we all screamed and wooped. As if we weren't excited enough, it got even better, we also got tickets to sea world and disneyland!!!

The view from our hotel room. It was in the 70's :)

 Disneyland was PACKED! It was insane how many people there were. They had to stop letting people in at one point. According to the news, Disneyland can hold up to 80,000 people before they have to stop letting them in. Thankfully, we arrived at 7:30 every morning and we had a system so we didn't have to wait for very long and we were able to ride a lot and enjoy our time :) Hooray for mathematical geniuses who love stats! 

Main street had a christmas fireworks show and at the end the castle lit up and "snow" started to fall. It really was the definition of magical. I couldn't stop smiling and giggling. It seemed for a moment that all troubles froze and nothing mattered than being there. We had a three day park hopper and by the end, we were parked out. 

We also made our way to Sea World.

and saw the Shamu show!! Thankfully we did not get splashed.

Shamu waves to you!

It was such a fun adventure. New Years eve was spent in the hot tub, napping, and eating...very exciting, haha. I think the only person wide awake and excited was my mother in law, I don't know how she did it. We then spent time with aunt lisa and her family, Where it was 80 degrees in the winter..how wonderful. We all got sick, were sleep deprived, but made so many great memories. What fun times! Thanks mom and dad for the vacation :)